Following Britainís defeat in 1783 in the American War of Independence Nova
Scotia acquired thousands of Loyalists from the United States who had English
ancestry. The British government had paid for their relocation costs in order to
bolster the population of the province with settlers who had remained loyal to
Britain. Their descendents continued to hold on to their English identity,
despite it being a distant memory, thus strengthening the English component of
the population, particularly on the west side of the province.

Between 1772 and 1775 Nova Scotia also attracted a large number of Yorkshire
immigrants directly from England. They established many communities in
Cumberland County, and by 1881 it was the only county in the province to have
English immigrants and their descendents as the dominant ethnic group.

Nova Scotia experienced a steady influx from England beginning in 1817. The
severe economic depression that followed the ending of the Napoleonic Wars in
1815 had been a key factor in the decision to emigrate but, because of gaps in
the shipping and customs records, it is impossible to state precisely how many
English people actually came to Nova Scotia. People arrived from many parts of
England, normally in small groups. They assimilated themselves into mixed
communities but few left documents behind, so little is known about them.

The province's coal mines and industrial sector attracted many of the English
who came after the mid 1820s. They mainly settled on the east side of the
mainland and in Cape Breton. The majority arrived from the port of Liverpool
suggesting that they had lived in the north of England.

For further details see - Planters, Paupers and
Pioneers, Lucille's book about Atlantic Canada.